Hoping a Big Win Gets the Confidence Going and Other Cubs Notes
The Little Girl is trying to “well actually” me on the pronunciation of the word “cocoa”. That A at the end is tripping her up. Which reminds me of a funny thing about The Wife that I’m going to share here because she probably won’t read this: she enunciates “cocoa” as co-co. Like, equal full weight on each half, as though she were mentioning two people who were both co-chairs of a committee (“the co-co chair had this to say”).
It cracks me up every time to the point that whenever she is forced to say the word, she gives me a death stare before she even completes the word, because she knows I’m going to say something.
Love you, dear!
- Day Three of the Draft is underway, and we’ll track it for you here.
- Although the Cubs won big last night, like an ugly loss, it counts for just one game. And, on the season, the Cubs have still lost as many as they’ve won. Hopefully, though, a breezy, fun win like last night gets the guys in a confident frame of mind, and starts turning the bats around. It’s not as if we’ve ever doubted whether the talent was there – we know it is. The question is whether the funks several of the players are in will turn around in time to rattle off a whole lot of wins before another NL Central team finally gets going (if that happens at all). It’s good that the Cubs feel a sense of urgency to win (CSN), so long as they don’t continue to press. A game like last night’s can help in that regard.
- Kris Bryant’s big night kept his consistent 147 wRC+ afloat. For his whole career, in fact, Bryant’s rolling 15-game wRC+ has been remarkably consistent, hovering constantly around the 150 mark.

- There is no timetable for Kyle Hendricks’ return from finger tendinitis after an unsuccessful throwing session yesterday. Joe Maddon says the Cubs want Hendricks to be able to pitch pain free before he goes back out there, and that wasn’t the case yesterday (CSN). Presumably, they’ll try again in a few days and see where things stand. As we discussed last night, in the meantime, it means more start(s) for Mike Montgomery, and maybe slightly more urgency for the Cubs to pursue pitching.
- When he got the morning text about the lineup, Anthony Rizzo, who was leading off, texted the group, “1-0 guys.” (ESPN) He called his shot.
- The pitcher win is a hopelessly broken and misleading statistic, but I know it’s important to many folks, so congrats to Jon Lester on number 150:
Congratulations to @JLester34 on his 150th career win, 2nd among active LHP! pic.twitter.com/K0IWMV8Onr
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 14, 2017
- Of more importance to me was how good Lester looked last night. Sure, maybe you might prefer that happened on a night when the offense didn’t have 14 runs in them, but you’d be a fool to complain about a great Cubs pitching performance on the road. They haven’t had many of those this season.
- The Cubs will be selling preserved ivy leaves from the 2016 season if you want a piece of the park and have $200 to spare.
- Odd history:
Ian Happ is the first Cubs player since at least 1920 to hit a grand slam and strike out 4 times in a game. (@ESPNStatsInfo)
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) June 14, 2017
- If you missed yesterday’s draft run-down, catch up on all the players here. Luke offered his take this morning.
- The Cubs’ short-season Low-A affiliate Eugene Emeralds have released their initial roster, and it’s prospecting goodness.
- The Cubs hit five homers last night, but it would have been six if not for a Jay Bruce robbery.
- Hey, I know announced attendance is always higher than actual attendance, but man oh man:
40,083 😂 pic.twitter.com/o5Cm8KYEI6
— Matt Sebek (@MattSebek) June 13, 2017
- This got me chuckling, especially in light of yesterday’s writeup about the possibly-coming pitch clock and automated strike zone:
Speeding Up The Game: The MLB Will No Longer Allow Pitchers To Deliver Stirring Monologues Between Pitches https://t.co/7t873ACxiX pic.twitter.com/WeYpFrh4Qu
— ClickHole (@ClickHole) June 13, 2017
We’ll never hear words like these on the pitcher’s mound again, but this is the price you have to pay for progress. https://t.co/7t873ACxiX pic.twitter.com/SwqDsNhKtn
— ClickHole (@ClickHole) June 13, 2017
- Sale, baby:
Enjoying the Cubs so much you want to CONSUME? Well, 25% off Nike and UA Cubs Gear at the MLB Shop: https://t.co/OVs3tgvL2B pic.twitter.com/dEEukrfscL
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) June 14, 2017
- There are also some really good Deals of the Day at Amazon today, including Swiss Army knives, an espresso maker, tools, and tactical flashlights.